Children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes face a possibly serious complication that can result in loss of attention and memory due to temporary changes in the brain, researchers report.
Those changes, caused by a complication known as diabetic ketoacidosis, can persist for six months following an initial diagnosis of diabetes, Australian researchers report in a study published in the journal Diabetes Care.
"Children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes with diabetic ketoacidosis have evidence of brain gray matter shrinkage and white matter swelling," study lead author Dr. Fergus Cameron at Royal Children's Hospital in Victoria, Australia, says.
These changes present a possible risk of affecting higher-level learning abilities, he says.
"While these changes resolve within the first week, there are associated residual cognitive changes -- memory and attention -- that are present six months after diagnosis."
In type 1 diabetes, the human immune system inadvertently destroys the body's ability to produce insulin, the hormone that converts food to fuel to power the body's cells, causing the body to instead turn to burning fat as a fuel.
This creates a byproduct, acids called keytones, which in high levels can begin poisoning the body in a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis.
That condition is present in 20 to 30 percent of people when they are first diagnosed as having type 1 diabetes, Cameron says, and shows a link with the brain changes.
Repeated episodes of ketoacidosis could lead to cumulative damage, he says.
"Changes in memory and attention are subtle, and may or may not be noticed by a parent or teacher on a daily basis," he says.
"However, any decrement in attention or memory in children is a concern as children are acquiring new knowledge and learning new skills all the time."
In the study, Cameron and research colleagues looked at 36 diabetic children and teenagers with diabetic ketoacidosis and 59 who did not have the accompanying condition.
Those with brain changes from the condition showed delayed memory recall and poor attention scores for as much as six months after the diagnosis of ketoacidosis accompanying their type 1 diabetes, the researchers found.
While the study was confined to a six-month follow-up, previous research has suggested the change in memory and attention could persist for much longer, Cameron says.
